RSS Reader Roundup
posted by: Vlad AkilovUsing an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader is a great way to stay in touch with breaking news and updates without having to do too much work. But with that being said, choosing an RSS reader is not quite as easy. After all, there are many services for you to choose from. Although all of the most popular RSS readers have a lot to offer, you will still want to make sure that you research each one before you make a final decision. This is the only way to ensure that you get exactly what you want.
There are five RSS readers that the majority of people use. But as mentioned above, some of them are better than others. Listed below are the five most popular RSS readers as well as the pros and cons that each one offers.
NewsGator
For all of your RSS reader needs, it does not get much better than the service that NewsGator has to offer. But despite its overall level of popularity, there are some downfalls that you want to be aware of.
Pros: NewsGator can be integrated with Microsoft Outlook. As you can imagine, if you are already using this email service you will be in for an easy time. Additionally, you can synchronize your NewsGator RSS reader to work with NewsGator Online. Drag and drop folders make organizing a cinch.
Cons: Although, they do have News Gator Online you can only use NewsGator if you also use Outlook; this is the biggest problem with this service. On top of this, many have found that NewsGator is hard to setup and install.
Overall Score: 8/10
FeedDemon
If you are new to RSS readers, FeedDemon is for you. It is set up for novices who are interested in getting their first taste of what an RSS reader has to offer.
Pros: The interface used by FeedDemon is among the best in the industry. This makes it easy for navigate the service without any issue; even for beginners. On top of this, there are many wizards that will help to walk you through any problems that you may have.
Cons: Online support is not as good as it could be. So even though FeedDemon is good for beginners, it can be difficult to get help when need be. Additionally, FeedDemon will set you back $29. Although this is not a lot of money, it is more than a free RSS reader would cost.
Overall Score: 7/10
Rojo
Rojo is a free RSS reader, and for both beginners and advanced users, it works quite well. It offers a standard news reader that is combined with a social community. While this is one of the most unique features offered by all services, Rojo lacks when it comes to ease of use.
Pros: The main benefit of Rojo is that it is a web based service which allows you to access your news stories from anywhere. Of course, this means that you do not need to install any software; a good thing for a lot of people. A social networking community makes it easy to share stories with other Rojo users.
Cons: There are two drawbacks that keep people away from Rojo. First off, the interface is not as updated and detail oriented as it could be. This leaves beginners stuck, and often times looking for answers. Secondly, there is no preview pane. This makes it impossible to preview the content before moving onto the actual web page.
Overall Score: 6/10
Bloglines
When it comes to the best free RSS readers, it does not get much better than Bloglines. It offers a lot of fun, free access, and much more. But of course, there are some areas that Bloglines needs to improve on. This is the one that I personally use, you can check out my public Bloglines Feed.
Pros: Bloglines is a web based RSS reader, which means that you do not have to install any software. It runs without any issues in most browsers, so you should not have to worry about mixed results. Of course, the fact that Bloglines is free is also a huge advantage to keep in mind. Additionally, the actual sign up process with Bloglines takes no more than a couple of minutes; this is perfect for beginners.
Cons: Just like Rojo, Bloglines does not have a preview pane that allows easy viewing of web pages before clicking through. Another beef with Bloglines is that it does not support a tagging feature; something that most others offer.
Score: 8/10
Google Reader
As you probably know, Google is one of the biggest players when it comes to the internet. And of course, this means that they offer their own version of an RSS reader. The Google name alone has gone a long way in attracting many people to use Google Reader.
Pros: One of the biggest benefits of Google Reader is its speed. When you want to see something, you do not have to wait around; a problem with several other services. Additionally, Google Reader makes it easy to subscribe to new feeds. All you have to do is type a URL, and from there, Google will automatically subscribe you to the appropriate feed. And if you are a Gmail user you will already be accustomed to the look and feel.
Cons: There are other RSS readers with a better interface. Google Reader seems a bit busy at times, and a cleaner design would probably do them some good. Additionally, the lack of drag and drop features is lacking as well. This is one feature that NewsGator readers love.
Score: 9/10
If you like this article please subscribe to the RSS Feed to be up-to-date with all our posts.
July 12th, 2007 at 12:15 am
Well, I’ve used all five, and my first choice is “None of the above.”
I’d choose Omea Pro, which can optionally be integrated with Microsoft Outlook. It requires the .NET Framework, but does NOT require integration with Microsoft Outlook … although if you use Outlook, it’s a great feature.
Omea Pro is EXTREMELY powerful. It’s amazing that it’s free, but I suspect that their developers are offering it for free as a way to generate revs for their other products and services.
If you do NOT use Outlook, I’d download the basic version. But if you use Microsoft Outlook, then download the Pro version. I keep saying “Microsoft Outlook” rather than “Outlook” in order to avoid possible confusion since “Outlook Express” doesn’t fully integrate with the Pro version.
BTW, I run Pro, but do NOT use either Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express (I use Thunderbird coupled with Gmail). So, you could use the Pro version even if you don’t use MS Outlook, although the basic/standard version might be a better (i.e., simpler) choice because it has fewer options than the Pro version and you can’t take advantage of all the Pro features unless you use MS Outlook.
I’ve been using Omea for several months and I like it better than all other options (and I’ve tried over 20). I’m currently trying GreatNews, but so far, I’m not too impressed. Not bad, but not great … and certainly not as good as Omea.
For free online readers, I use both Google Reader and Bloglines, but I find that with Omea, Bloglines is more useful. For one thing, e-newsletters (matter of fact, anything sent to an e-mail address) is easily integrated into Bloglines. VERY nice feature. Also, I run searches within my public Bloglines blogroll, create RSS feeds from those searches, and then input them back into another Bloglines account, into my various Google Reader accounts and (of course) my Omea reader.
The advantage of doing this is that I’m able to search within “approved” sources, i.e., sources that I’ve already found useful, but can’t really read on a regular basis. (There are nearly 700 feeds on my public Bloglines blogroll.) But this is much, much better than simply searching for results among ALL blogs; way, way too much noise with this option.
My public Bloglines blogroll: http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL (over 600 feeds)
Also, http://www.bloglines.com/public/QBL (about 200 feeds; a subset of “DSL”) and http://www.bloglines.com/public/bestonchina (20 of the best feeds covering China, where I live; a subset of “QBL”).
July 12th, 2007 at 12:24 am
@David: Thanks for your input and an alternative to these readers.
I just checked out Omea, and it looks pretty good. Thanks for the tip
July 13th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
GreatNews RSS reader does it for me quite nicely.
http://www.curiostudio.com/index.html
July 13th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
GreatNews all the way, man! I love it because it is portable!
If you like web based feed readers, the new Fastladder looks pretty sweet. I just wrote about it too, if you’re interested.
July 15th, 2007 at 12:08 am
@K-IntheHouse: I would really like to hear what you had to say about Fastladder, leave the link to it here.
July 15th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
[...] RSS Readers: Are you trying to figure what RSS reader you should use? This post has a detailed analysis with the most popular ones. Subscribe Daniel on July 15, 2007 | Filed Under Reader Tips [...]
July 16th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Hey Vlad,
I have linked to my post in my name. Let me know what yu think.. Cheers.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Being a windows/office guy, I use Outlook for email. I didn’t want to run a seperate app. for RSS so I use Attensa. http://www.attensa.com It’s an Outlook plugin where you can view your feeds just like folders and email messages. If you use Outlook I recommend Attensa. Although I have not tried it yet, I assume it’s used like the Omea app. mentioned above.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I’d like to hear why the GreatNews champions really like GreatNews. I’m still trying it, but don’t find it nearly as powerful as Omea. What am I missing? Really, what’s so great about GreatNews? I’m not trying to start an argument; I’d like to really understand why you like it so much. What makes it better than Omea? What makes it better than Google Reader? What makes it better than Bloglines? I’m very curious.
BTW, I’m going to give Fastladder a try, too. Thanks for the HT.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Hey David,
I have tried Omea before but did not use it for a long time because I wasn’t into blogging then. After I started blogging, I needed a portable feed reader because I am offline a lot of times. I started using GreatNews for that reason and just found out how rich the features were. If Omea was portable (I don’t think it is) or for that matter if there is a better portable feed reader, I am all for trying it. I love trying out new stuff but GreatNews has stuck with me for almost 5 months now.
Not trying to link spam here but I wrote a post at Blog About Your Blog (linked to my name) about why a blogger should use a Deskop Reader and lot of the features I talk about are based on GreatNews. If you get a chance to read it, I would love to get a feedback from you if it compares with Omea. You never know.. you might change my mind about GreatNews.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
@K-IntheHouse I checked out your post about Fast Ladder, looks pretty good, I am going to try it out. I particularly like the integrated search feature.
July 18th, 2007 at 8:46 am
It definitely looks promising and a great one for anyone looking for a change from Google Reader.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Nice post. I think a lot of people are intersted in using an RSS Reader. This post allowed me to see what is available all in one place. Thanks again!
July 20th, 2007 at 2:29 am
@K-IntheHouse, yes, Omea is an offline reader … and that’s why I like it, too.
I read your post titled “9 Reasons …” and Omea has everything you listed.
Let’s face it, what we both want is something that is both online AND offline.
Now here might be an advantage for GreatNews: It (supposedly) integrates with Bloglines. If this is the case, then it might have an online/offline advantage over Omea, Google Reader, just about all readers. (I’ll have to try this when I get some spare cycles.)
Also, and this is purely a personal preference, I like the Omea UI much, much more than the GreatNews UI.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I have never used a Feed Reader properly until this week, I finally found a few blogs that I thought always posted some good-read posts so downloaded RSSOwl, which is really nice.